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THIS WEEK
Utah State (0-0) will begin the 2009-10 season on the road against Weber State (0-0) on Friday, Nov. 13 in the Dee Events Center in Ogden at 7:30 p.m. The game is not televised, but fans can listen to the game live on the Aggie Radio Network.
LOOKING AT UTAH STATE
After posting its 10th straight 23-win season, winning its second straight WAC regular season championship, including its first-ever WAC Tournament title, and playing in its 10th straight postseason (6-NCAA, 4-NIT), Utah State will be looking to make another run at postseason play this year. Despite the loss of senior All-American forward Gary Wilkinson, who was the Player of the Year in the WAC in 2009, Utah State does return four of its top five scorers from last season including senior guard Jared Quayle and junior forward Tai Wesley. Quayle, who was named to the WAC's preseason first-team this year, averaged 13.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game as a junior, while shooting 46.5 percent from the field, 38.8 percent from three-point range and 76.4 percent from the free throw line. Quayle finished the year ranking third in the WAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.05), sixth in steals (1.43), sixth in assists, seventh in free throw shooting, 11th in scoring and 12th in rebounding. Wesley was named to the WAC's preseason second-team this fall after averaging 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds as a sophomore. He finished the year ranking second in the WAC in field goal shooting and 11th in rebounding. Utah State also returns junior guards Tyler Newbold and Pooh Williams to the starting lineup. Newbold averaged 9.0 points and 4.2 rebounds as a sophomore and shot 43.1 percent from the field, 39.5 percent from three-point range and 76.2 percent from the free throw line. Newbold also finished the year leading the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.96-to-1.00. Williams averaged 5.9 points and 1.9 rebounds as a sophomore and shot 46.4 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from three-point range and 68.1 percent from the free throw line. Utah State also returns three reserves from last year's team in junior forward Matt Formisano, sophomore forward Brady Jardine and sophomore guard Jaxon Myaer. Sophomore center Modou Niang is also back for USU after redshirting during the 2009 season.
UTAH STATE RETURNS PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE
Utah State's four returning starters have a combined 239 games played while at Utah State including 186 starts, while its four other returnees have a total of 136 games played at USU. Furthermore, Utah State's seven returning lettermen from the 2008-09 roster are the most since the 2004-05 season when USU returned seven lettermen.
UTAH STATE IN THE PRESEASON
Utah State won both of its exhibition games this year as it defeated Northwest Nazarene, 85-51, and Trinity Western, 65-40. Junior forward Tai Wesley led USU during the preseason as he averaged 17.0 points and shot 80.0 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. Senior guard Jared Quayle averaged 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists, while shooting 52.9 percent from the field, 58.3 percent from three-point range and 75.0 percent from the free throw line, and junior forward Nate Bendall averaged 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting 88.9 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. As a team, USU averaged 75.0 points and shot 53.6 percent from the field, 43.8 percent from three-point range and 71.1 percent from the free throw line. Defensively, USU allowed just 45.5 points and its opponents shot 28.3 percent from the field, 27.5 percent from three-point range and 63.2 percent from the free throw line.
AGGIES RECEIVING PRESEASON VOTES
Utah State enters the 2009-10 season receiving votes in both polls as the Aggies garnered three votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and is tied for 48th along with Cornell, Memphis, Mississippi and Southern Illinois. In the Associated Press poll, USU received two votes and is tied for 47th with Virginia Commonwealth and Western Kentucky.
UTAH STATE PICKED TO REPEAT AS WAC CHAMPIONS
Utah State's men's basketball team is picked to repeat as Western Athletic Conference champions according to both the league's coaches and media as the WAC announced its preseason polls Tuesday, Oct. 20. Utah State received eight first-place votes and 64 points in the coaches poll, while Nevada received one first-place vote and 53 points. New Mexico State received 50 points and was picked to finish third, followed by Idaho (42), Louisiana Tech (31), Fresno State (30), Boise State (23), San Jose State (19) and Hawai'i (12). In the media poll, Utah State garnered 15 first-place votes and 273 points, while Nevada was second with 269 points and 12 first-place votes. New Mexico State, who received 226 points and six first-place votes was picked third, while Idaho (193) and Boise State (145) rounded out the top five. Louisiana Tech (140) was picked sixth, followed by Fresno State (130), San Jose State (88) and Hawai'i (66). The Spartans also received one first-place vote in the media poll.
QUAYLE AND WESLEY NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAMS
Senior point guard Jared Quayle and junior forward Tai Wesley were both named to the WAC's various preseason teams as Quayle was named to the first-team by both the coaches and media, while Wesley was named to the coaches second-team. The coaches preseason first-team consisted of Mac Hopson (Idaho), Armon Johnson (Nevada) Jahmar Young (New Mexico State), Quayle and Luke Babbitt of Nevada who was selected as the preseason player of the year. The second-team had Roderick Flemings (Hawai'i), Paul George (Fresno State), Kyle Gibson (Louisiana Tech), Sylvester Seay (Fresno State), and Wesley. The media's preseason all-conference team included Hopson, Johnson, Quayle and Young, while Babbitt was selected as the league's preseason player of the year and Idaho's Steffan Johnson was voted as the WAC's newcomer of the year.
QUAYLE ONLY SENIOR ON AGGIE ROSTER
Utah State has just one senior on its roster for the second straight year in guard Jared Quayle. Prior to the 2008-09 season, the last time a USU team had just one senior on its roster was during the 1999-2000 campaign in guard Troy Rolle. That team finished the season with a 28-6 record, including a perfect 16-0 mark in the Big West Conference. The 2008-09 team also did pretty well with just one senior on its roster as it went 30-5 overall and won the WAC with a 14-2 league record.
AGGIES SCHEDULE LOADED WITH POSTSEASON GAMES
Of its 31 regular season games scheduled this year, Utah State will play at least 13 games against teams who participated in postseason play last year. Utah State's non-conference schedule consists of seven games against postseason teams from a year ago as the Aggies will host Brigham Young, Morehead State, Saint Mary's and Weber State, and travel to Northeastern, Utah and Weber State. BYU, who will be making its first visit to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in four years, has played in the NCAA Tournament each of the last three seasons, while Morehead State and Utah also played in the Big Dance last season. Saint Mary's and Weber State both participated in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) a year ago, while Northeastern participated in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Other postseason teams from the 2008-09 season on Utah State's schedule include Idaho, who played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, and Boise State and Nevada who both appeared in the CBI.
THE MORRILL COACHING TREE
Utah State head coach Stew Morrill currently has five former assistants who are head coaches at the Division I level, which ranks tied for the fourth-most by any current Division I coach in college basketball. Morrill's former assistants who are current head coaches include Terry Dunn (Dartmouth), Jeff Jackson (Furman), Randy Rahe (Weber State), Blaine Taylor (Old Dominion) and Don Verlin (Idaho). Arizona State's Herb Sendek has the most assistants who are currently Division I head coaches with eight, followed by Louisville's Rick Pitino with seven and Connecticut's Jim Calhoun with six. Other coaches with five assistants as current Division I head coaches include Ben Braun of Rice, Tom Izzo of Michigan State and Jay Wright of Villanova.
DID YOU KNOW?
Utah State is one of just three teams in the nation to win at least 23 games in each of the last 10 seasons along with Gonzaga and Kansas. During the last 10 years, Utah State has averaged 25.2 wins per season.
SCOUTING WEBER STATE
Weber State returns three starters and six letterwinners from last year's Big Sky Conference regular season championship team that went 21-10 overall and finished 15-1 in league play. The Wildcats ended their season with a 65-49 loss at San Diego State in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. Weber State is picked to repeat as Big Sky champions this year by both the league's coaches and media. Among those returning for WSU is sophomore guard Damian Lillard who was named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year last season, along with garnering first-team all-conference honors. As a freshman, Lillard averaged 11.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, while shooting 43.4 percent from the field, 37.4 percent from three-point range and 84.1 percent from the free throw line. Also returning for the Wildcats is senior forward Steve Panos who averaged 9.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game a year ago, and sophomore forward Kyle Bullinger who averaged 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds a game in 2009. During the 2008-09 season, Weber State averaged 70.2 points per game and shot 47.2 percent from the field, 37.6 percent from three-point range and 73.0 percent from the free throw line. Defensively, the Wildcats allowed 66.3 points while its opponents shot 42.5 percent from the field, 33.2 percent from three-point range and 71.1 percent from the free throw line.
WEBER STATE DURING THE PRESEASON
Weber State won both of its exhibition games this season as it defeated Colorado-Colorado Springs, 110-58, and Colorado Christian, 75-65. Sophomore guard Damian Lillard led WSU during the preseason as he averaged 22.0 points and 6.0 assists, while shooting 63.2 percent from the field, 61.5 percent from three-point range and 85.7 percent from the free throw line. Senior guard Nick Hansen averaged 21.0 points and 4.0 rebounds, while junior forward Franklin Session averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. As a team, Weber State averaged 92.5 points during the preseason, while shooting 54.2 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from three-point range and 68.3 percent from the free throw line.
UTAH STATE VS. WEBER STATE RIVALRY ONE OF THE OLDEST IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Utah State and Weber State will be playing for the 61st time this week in what is the ninth-oldest rivalry in school history along with UC Santa Barbara. USU's first game against WSU was on Feb. 23, 1971.
UTAH STATE-WEBER STATE SERIES
Utah State and Weber State will be meeting for the 61st time this week, with the Aggies owning a 35-25 all-time advantage. USU has won seven of the last eight games played in the series, including a 75-49 win in Logan last year. The last time the two teams played in Ogden was on Nov. 10, 2007 with WSU notching a 78-71 victory. The first game played in the series was on Feb. 23, 1971, with the Wildcats posting a 63-62 road win. Utah State is 13-16 all-time against Weber State on the road and has won three of the last four meetings between the two teams in the Dee Events Center.
VERSUS THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE
Utah State is 186-98 (.655) all-time against current members of the Big Sky Conference, while Coach Morrill is 65-20 (.765) all-time against the league. At Utah State, Morrill is 17-6 (.739) versus the Big Sky and 8-4 against Weber State. All-time, Morrill is 15-8 against the Wildcats, which includes a 7-3 record while at Montana, an 0-1 record while at Colorado State and an 8-4 record at Utah State.
UTAH STATE-WEBER STATE CONNECTIONS
Weber State head coach Randy Rahe spent six years as an assistant at Utah State (1999-2004), and 13 years as an assistant to USU head coach Stew Morrill at Utah State and Colorado State. Weber State assistant Eric Duft spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College and coached former Aggie Stephen DuCharme. Furthermore, Duft spent two of those seven years at Hutchinson CC as an assistant for then head coach Tim Duryea. Duryea is now in his ninth year as an assistant coach at Utah State.
UTAH STATE IN NOVEMBER
Utah State is 40-11 (.784) during the month of November under Coach Morrill, which includes a 9-7 road record and a 21-11 mark away from home. Overall, Utah State has won five straight games during the month of February. Utah State is 25-6 (.806) in games played on Friday under Coach Morrill and 1-0 in games played on Nov. 13 as it defeated Simon Fraser, 78-57, to begin the 1999-2000 season.
AGGIES GAME VERSUS WEBER STATE IS THE FOURTH-EARLIEST START TO A SEASON IN USU HISTORY
Utah State's season-opening game at Weber State on Friday, Nov. 13 marks the fourth-earliest start to a season in school history. The 1998-99 and 2007-08 seasons both began on November 9th which is the earliest in school history, while the 2006-07 season began on November 10th.
LAST MEETING AGAINST THE WILDCATS
Tai Wesley barely missed recording just the fourth triple-double in school history as he finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high nine assists in Utah State's 75-49 home win against Weber State on Nov. 25, 2008 in Logan. All five Utah State starters finished the game by scoring in double-figures as senior forward Gary Wilkinson had a game-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds, while freshman guard Jaxon Myaer had 13 points. Sophomore guard Tyler Newbold scored 12 points and junior guard Jared Quayle had 10 points and six rebounds. Steve Panos finished with 17 points and eight rebounds for Weber State, while Kellen McCoy had 16 points, including 13 in the first-half. Nick Hansen also scored in double-figures for the visitors as he scored all 10 of his points in the first-half. Trailing 35-28 at the break, Newbold began the second-half by hitting a three-pointer for Utah State to ignite a 24-7 run. The Aggies then finished the game on a 20-2 run over the final 7:37 to notch the 26-point win, which is tied for the largest margin of victory for USU in series history. In the second-half, Utah State out-scored the Wildcats 47-14 and held the visitors without a field goal for the final 16:20 of the game. After shooting just 33.3 percent in the first-half (7-21), Utah State made 19-of-29 (.655) field goals in the second 20 minutes and finished the game by shooting 52.0 percent (26-50). The Aggies were also 5-of-13 (.385) from three-point range and 18-of-24 (.750) from the charity stripe. Weber State finished the game by shooting 38.1 percent (16-42), but was just 3-of-15 (.200) from the field in the second-half. WSU did make 13-of-16 (.813) free throws in the game and was 4-of-11 (.364) from three-point range. Utah State out-rebounded its opponent for the third straight game as it finished with a 31-24 advantage on the boards. The Aggies also had 16 assists and just five turnovers, which is the fewest for a USU team since the 2000-01 season. Utah State scored the first four points of the game on a pair of free throws and a layup by Wesley. Weber State responded with a 13-6 run to lead 13-10 and extended its margin to 12 at 27-15 with 6:30 to go in the half via a three-pointer by McCoy. USU answered the Wildcats run with a 10-4 spurt to get within six and went into the locker room down seven.
LAST MEETING AGAINST THE WILDCATS IN OGDEN
Dezmon Harris scored 16 points, including 10 in the second-half to lead Weber State to a come-from-behind 78-71 win against Utah State on Nov. 10, 2007 in the Dee Events Center. Junior forward Gary Wilkinson led Utah State with 21 points and eight rebounds, while senior All-American guard Jaycee Carroll added 14 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Stephen DuCharme also reached double-digits in scoring for the Aggies as he scored 13 points and grabbed five boards. Arturas Valeika scored 10 of his 15 points in the first-half for Weber State and finished with a game-high 12 rebounds, while Steve Panos added 13 points for the Wildcats. Utah State took its biggest lead of the game at 54-47 on a three-point basket by Carroll with 10:44 remaining before the Wildcats scored six straight points to get within one. After USU extended the lead back to three on a layup by Wilkinson, WSU tied it on a three-pointer by Brody Van Brocklin and then took the lead for good on a layup by Harris with 5:54 to play. In all, Weber State out-scored Utah State, 31-17, during the final 10:44. Weber State finished the game by shooting 50.0 percent from the field, including 12-of-20 shooting in the second-half, while Utah State shot 49.0 percent from the field. USU did out-rebound the Wildcats, 31-26, but the Aggies also had 10 more turnovers (23-13) and committed 28 fouls.
THIS WEEK
Utah State (0-0) will begin the 2009-10 season on the road against Weber State (0-0) on Friday, Nov. 13 in the Dee Events Center in Ogden at 7:30 p.m. The game is not televised, but fans can listen to the game live on the Aggie Radio Network.
LOOKING AT UTAH STATE
After posting its 10th straight 23-win season, winning its second straight WAC regular season championship, including its first-ever WAC Tournament title, and playing in its 10th straight postseason (6-NCAA, 4-NIT), Utah State will be looking to make another run at postseason play this year. Despite the loss of senior All-American forward Gary Wilkinson, who was the Player of the Year in the WAC in 2009, Utah State does return four of its top five scorers from last season including senior guard Jared Quayle and junior forward Tai Wesley. Quayle, who was named to the WAC's preseason first-team this year, averaged 13.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game as a junior, while shooting 46.5 percent from the field, 38.8 percent from three-point range and 76.4 percent from the free throw line. Quayle finished the year ranking third in the WAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.05), sixth in steals (1.43), sixth in assists, seventh in free throw shooting, 11th in scoring and 12th in rebounding. Wesley was named to the WAC's preseason second-team this fall after averaging 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds as a sophomore. He finished the year ranking second in the WAC in field goal shooting and 11th in rebounding. Utah State also returns junior guards Tyler Newbold and Pooh Williams to the starting lineup. Newbold averaged 9.0 points and 4.2 rebounds as a sophomore and shot 43.1 percent from the field, 39.5 percent from three-point range and 76.2 percent from the free throw line. Newbold also finished the year leading the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.96-to-1.00. Williams averaged 5.9 points and 1.9 rebounds as a sophomore and shot 46.4 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from three-point range and 68.1 percent from the free throw line. Utah State also returns three reserves from last year's team in junior forward Matt Formisano, sophomore forward Brady Jardine and sophomore guard Jaxon Myaer. Sophomore center Modou Niang is also back for USU after redshirting during the 2009 season.
UTAH STATE RETURNS PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE
Utah State's four returning starters have a combined 239 games played while at Utah State including 186 starts, while its four other returnees have a total of 136 games played at USU. Furthermore, Utah State's seven returning lettermen from the 2008-09 roster are the most since the 2004-05 season when USU returned seven lettermen.
UTAH STATE IN THE PRESEASON
Utah State won both of its exhibition games this year as it defeated Northwest Nazarene, 85-51, and Trinity Western, 65-40. Junior forward Tai Wesley led USU during the preseason as he averaged 17.0 points and shot 80.0 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. Senior guard Jared Quayle averaged 14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists, while shooting 52.9 percent from the field, 58.3 percent from three-point range and 75.0 percent from the free throw line, and junior forward Nate Bendall averaged 10.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting 88.9 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. As a team, USU averaged 75.0 points and shot 53.6 percent from the field, 43.8 percent from three-point range and 71.1 percent from the free throw line. Defensively, USU allowed just 45.5 points and its opponents shot 28.3 percent from the field, 27.5 percent from three-point range and 63.2 percent from the free throw line.
AGGIES RECEIVING PRESEASON VOTES
Utah State enters the 2009-10 season receiving votes in both polls as the Aggies garnered three votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and is tied for 48th along with Cornell, Memphis, Mississippi and Southern Illinois. In the Associated Press poll, USU received two votes and is tied for 47th with Virginia Commonwealth and Western Kentucky.
UTAH STATE PICKED TO REPEAT AS WAC CHAMPIONS
Utah State's men's basketball team is picked to repeat as Western Athletic Conference champions according to both the league's coaches and media as the WAC announced its preseason polls Tuesday, Oct. 20. Utah State received eight first-place votes and 64 points in the coaches poll, while Nevada received one first-place vote and 53 points. New Mexico State received 50 points and was picked to finish third, followed by Idaho (42), Louisiana Tech (31), Fresno State (30), Boise State (23), San Jose State (19) and Hawai'i (12). In the media poll, Utah State garnered 15 first-place votes and 273 points, while Nevada was second with 269 points and 12 first-place votes. New Mexico State, who received 226 points and six first-place votes was picked third, while Idaho (193) and Boise State (145) rounded out the top five. Louisiana Tech (140) was picked sixth, followed by Fresno State (130), San Jose State (88) and Hawai'i (66). The Spartans also received one first-place vote in the media poll.
QUAYLE AND WESLEY NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAMS
Senior point guard Jared Quayle and junior forward Tai Wesley were both named to the WAC's various preseason teams as Quayle was named to the first-team by both the coaches and media, while Wesley was named to the coaches second-team. The coaches preseason first-team consisted of Mac Hopson (Idaho), Armon Johnson (Nevada) Jahmar Young (New Mexico State), Quayle and Luke Babbitt of Nevada who was selected as the preseason player of the year. The second-team had Roderick Flemings (Hawai'i), Paul George (Fresno State), Kyle Gibson (Louisiana Tech), Sylvester Seay (Fresno State), and Wesley. The media's preseason all-conference team included Hopson, Johnson, Quayle and Young, while Babbitt was selected as the league's preseason player of the year and Idaho's Steffan Johnson was voted as the WAC's newcomer of the year.
QUAYLE ONLY SENIOR ON AGGIE ROSTER
Utah State has just one senior on its roster for the second straight year in guard Jared Quayle. Prior to the 2008-09 season, the last time a USU team had just one senior on its roster was during the 1999-2000 campaign in guard Troy Rolle. That team finished the season with a 28-6 record, including a perfect 16-0 mark in the Big West Conference. The 2008-09 team also did pretty well with just one senior on its roster as it went 30-5 overall and won the WAC with a 14-2 league record.
AGGIES SCHEDULE LOADED WITH POSTSEASON GAMES
Of its 31 regular season games scheduled this year, Utah State will play at least 13 games against teams who participated in postseason play last year. Utah State's non-conference schedule consists of seven games against postseason teams from a year ago as the Aggies will host Brigham Young, Morehead State, Saint Mary's and Weber State, and travel to Northeastern, Utah and Weber State. BYU, who will be making its first visit to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in four years, has played in the NCAA Tournament each of the last three seasons, while Morehead State and Utah also played in the Big Dance last season. Saint Mary's and Weber State both participated in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) a year ago, while Northeastern participated in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Other postseason teams from the 2008-09 season on Utah State's schedule include Idaho, who played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, and Boise State and Nevada who both appeared in the CBI.
THE MORRILL COACHING TREE
Utah State head coach Stew Morrill currently has five former assistants who are head coaches at the Division I level, which ranks tied for the fourth-most by any current Division I coach in college basketball. Morrill's former assistants who are current head coaches include Terry Dunn (Dartmouth), Jeff Jackson (Furman), Randy Rahe (Weber State), Blaine Taylor (Old Dominion) and Don Verlin (Idaho). Arizona State's Herb Sendek has the most assistants who are currently Division I head coaches with eight, followed by Louisville's Rick Pitino with seven and Connecticut's Jim Calhoun with six. Other coaches with five assistants as current Division I head coaches include Ben Braun of Rice, Tom Izzo of Michigan State and Jay Wright of Villanova.
DID YOU KNOW?
Utah State is one of just three teams in the nation to win at least 23 games in each of the last 10 seasons along with Gonzaga and Kansas. During the last 10 years, Utah State has averaged 25.2 wins per season.
SCOUTING WEBER STATE
Weber State returns three starters and six letterwinners from last year's Big Sky Conference regular season championship team that went 21-10 overall and finished 15-1 in league play. The Wildcats ended their season with a 65-49 loss at San Diego State in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. Weber State is picked to repeat as Big Sky champions this year by both the league's coaches and media. Among those returning for WSU is sophomore guard Damian Lillard who was named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year last season, along with garnering first-team all-conference honors. As a freshman, Lillard averaged 11.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, while shooting 43.4 percent from the field, 37.4 percent from three-point range and 84.1 percent from the free throw line. Also returning for the Wildcats is senior forward Steve Panos who averaged 9.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game a year ago, and sophomore forward Kyle Bullinger who averaged 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds a game in 2009. During the 2008-09 season, Weber State averaged 70.2 points per game and shot 47.2 percent from the field, 37.6 percent from three-point range and 73.0 percent from the free throw line. Defensively, the Wildcats allowed 66.3 points while its opponents shot 42.5 percent from the field, 33.2 percent from three-point range and 71.1 percent from the free throw line.
WEBER STATE DURING THE PRESEASON
Weber State won both of its exhibition games this season as it defeated Colorado-Colorado Springs, 110-58, and Colorado Christian, 75-65. Sophomore guard Damian Lillard led WSU during the preseason as he averaged 22.0 points and 6.0 assists, while shooting 63.2 percent from the field, 61.5 percent from three-point range and 85.7 percent from the free throw line. Senior guard Nick Hansen averaged 21.0 points and 4.0 rebounds, while junior forward Franklin Session averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. As a team, Weber State averaged 92.5 points during the preseason, while shooting 54.2 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from three-point range and 68.3 percent from the free throw line.
UTAH STATE VS. WEBER STATE RIVALRY ONE OF THE OLDEST IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Utah State and Weber State will be playing for the 61st time this week in what is the ninth-oldest rivalry in school history along with UC Santa Barbara. USU's first game against WSU was on Feb. 23, 1971.
UTAH STATE-WEBER STATE SERIES
Utah State and Weber State will be meeting for the 61st time this week, with the Aggies owning a 35-25 all-time advantage. USU has won seven of the last eight games played in the series, including a 75-49 win in Logan last year. The last time the two teams played in Ogden was on Nov. 10, 2007 with WSU notching a 78-71 victory. The first game played in the series was on Feb. 23, 1971, with the Wildcats posting a 63-62 road win. Utah State is 13-16 all-time against Weber State on the road and has won three of the last four meetings between the two teams in the Dee Events Center.
VERSUS THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE
Utah State is 186-98 (.655) all-time against current members of the Big Sky Conference, while Coach Morrill is 65-20 (.765) all-time against the league. At Utah State, Morrill is 17-6 (.739) versus the Big Sky and 8-4 against Weber State. All-time, Morrill is 15-8 against the Wildcats, which includes a 7-3 record while at Montana, an 0-1 record while at Colorado State and an 8-4 record at Utah State.
UTAH STATE-WEBER STATE CONNECTIONS
Weber State head coach Randy Rahe spent six years as an assistant at Utah State (1999-2004), and 13 years as an assistant to USU head coach Stew Morrill at Utah State and Colorado State. Weber State assistant Eric Duft spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College and coached former Aggie Stephen DuCharme. Furthermore, Duft spent two of those seven years at Hutchinson CC as an assistant for then head coach Tim Duryea. Duryea is now in his ninth year as an assistant coach at Utah State.
UTAH STATE IN NOVEMBER
Utah State is 40-11 (.784) during the month of November under Coach Morrill, which includes a 9-7 road record and a 21-11 mark away from home. Overall, Utah State has won five straight games during the month of February. Utah State is 25-6 (.806) in games played on Friday under Coach Morrill and 1-0 in games played on Nov. 13 as it defeated Simon Fraser, 78-57, to begin the 1999-2000 season.
AGGIES GAME VERSUS WEBER STATE IS THE FOURTH-EARLIEST START TO A SEASON IN USU HISTORY
Utah State's season-opening game at Weber State on Friday, Nov. 13 marks the fourth-earliest start to a season in school history. The 1998-99 and 2007-08 seasons both began on November 9th which is the earliest in school history, while the 2006-07 season began on November 10th.
LAST MEETING AGAINST THE WILDCATS
Tai Wesley barely missed recording just the fourth triple-double in school history as he finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high nine assists in Utah State's 75-49 home win against Weber State on Nov. 25, 2008 in Logan. All five Utah State starters finished the game by scoring in double-figures as senior forward Gary Wilkinson had a game-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds, while freshman guard Jaxon Myaer had 13 points. Sophomore guard Tyler Newbold scored 12 points and junior guard Jared Quayle had 10 points and six rebounds. Steve Panos finished with 17 points and eight rebounds for Weber State, while Kellen McCoy had 16 points, including 13 in the first-half. Nick Hansen also scored in double-figures for the visitors as he scored all 10 of his points in the first-half. Trailing 35-28 at the break, Newbold began the second-half by hitting a three-pointer for Utah State to ignite a 24-7 run. The Aggies then finished the game on a 20-2 run over the final 7:37 to notch the 26-point win, which is tied for the largest margin of victory for USU in series history. In the second-half, Utah State out-scored the Wildcats 47-14 and held the visitors without a field goal for the final 16:20 of the game. After shooting just 33.3 percent in the first-half (7-21), Utah State made 19-of-29 (.655) field goals in the second 20 minutes and finished the game by shooting 52.0 percent (26-50). The Aggies were also 5-of-13 (.385) from three-point range and 18-of-24 (.750) from the charity stripe. Weber State finished the game by shooting 38.1 percent (16-42), but was just 3-of-15 (.200) from the field in the second-half. WSU did make 13-of-16 (.813) free throws in the game and was 4-of-11 (.364) from three-point range. Utah State out-rebounded its opponent for the third straight game as it finished with a 31-24 advantage on the boards. The Aggies also had 16 assists and just five turnovers, which is the fewest for a USU team since the 2000-01 season. Utah State scored the first four points of the game on a pair of free throws and a layup by Wesley. Weber State responded with a 13-6 run to lead 13-10 and extended its margin to 12 at 27-15 with 6:30 to go in the half via a three-pointer by McCoy. USU answered the Wildcats run with a 10-4 spurt to get within six and went into the locker room down seven.
LAST MEETING AGAINST THE WILDCATS IN OGDEN
Dezmon Harris scored 16 points, including 10 in the second-half to lead Weber State to a come-from-behind 78-71 win against Utah State on Nov. 10, 2007 in the Dee Events Center. Junior forward Gary Wilkinson led Utah State with 21 points and eight rebounds, while senior All-American guard Jaycee Carroll added 14 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Stephen DuCharme also reached double-digits in scoring for the Aggies as he scored 13 points and grabbed five boards. Arturas Valeika scored 10 of his 15 points in the first-half for Weber State and finished with a game-high 12 rebounds, while Steve Panos added 13 points for the Wildcats. Utah State took its biggest lead of the game at 54-47 on a three-point basket by Carroll with 10:44 remaining before the Wildcats scored six straight points to get within one. After USU extended the lead back to three on a layup by Wilkinson, WSU tied it on a three-pointer by Brody Van Brocklin and then took the lead for good on a layup by Harris with 5:54 to play. In all, Weber State out-scored Utah State, 31-17, during the final 10:44. Weber State finished the game by shooting 50.0 percent from the field, including 12-of-20 shooting in the second-half, while Utah State shot 49.0 percent from the field. USU did out-rebound the Wildcats, 31-26, but the Aggies also had 10 more turnovers (23-13) and committed 28 fouls.
